EU to review Swiss ties after vote curbing immigration

The European Union warned it will review ties with Switzerland after the non-member Alpine country voted Sunday to restrict EU immigration in a closely-fought referendum. Final results of the plebiscite showed 50.3 percent of voters backed the "Stop Mass Immigration" plan pushed by Swiss right-wing populists.

The fall-out from the result could sink a raft of deals with the EU, including on the economic front.

Switzerland is ringed by EU member countries and does the bulk of its trade with the 28-nation bloc, but has remained steadfast about not becoming a member.

The European Commission said it would assess EU ties with Switzerland, raising the prospect of restricted trade or other retaliatory steps.

"The EU will examine the implications of this initiative on EU-Swiss relations as a whole," it said a statement.

EU foreign ministers were scheduled to meet Monday in Brussels but it was not clear whether the Swiss vote would be added to the agenda.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, finance minister of Germany, Switzerland's top trade partner, said the result "is going to create plenty of problems for Switzerland in a host of areas". But he said it was also a warning sign of European globalisation fears.

Even if we accept that there was a plausible military imperative to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – to bring about a swift defeat of Japan and thus an end to the Pacific War – the horror of civilian death toll from those two no-warning aerial attacks places a disturbing question over the supposed ends justifying the means...